I Thought I Was Alone
by Amane Usui
Summary: In that one moment of true turmoil and confusion, you look around at the faces surrounding you and say 'Your never really alone, I realize that now and I'm glad' Ichihime fic also other pairings down the road. OC characters, Mild language, Violence, and I threw in some humor too
1. Chapter 1

**First Bleach fic :) please let me know what you think of it and review it'll really make my day. This story is going to be AU for the most part, the current and final story arc of the manga isnt going to be in this story, but everything up until after the 'FullBring' arc and everything after that is going to come from my imagination**

**I own nothing it all belongs to the great Tite Kubo**

Orihime turned her head away from the lecture being told to the class, and turned her gaze outside of the window that was next to her desk. She knew she would have to get the notes from someone else that would let her borrow them, possibly Tatsuki-chan or Ishida-kun, there was also Kurosaki-kun. Smiling to herself she looked at the paper that was on her desk. The page was covered with random doodles of blue space men and red bean paste monsters attacking people. Also on the page was Kurosaki-kun's name and drawings of him in his shinigami form, fighting the evil monsters. Orihime picked up her pencil and as her pencil touched the paper she jumped at a sudden outburst from somewhere in the classroom. Looking up with wide eyes she found that the noise had come from Kurosaki-kun.

Apparently Ochi-sensei had caught Ichigo dozing off during her lecture and to get his attention she had thrown the nearest book at his head, which resulted in Ichigo flailing around his desk and yelling at the teacher. He scowled at her as she continued on with her lesson. He hurriedly tried to keep up and write down the notes, but every now and then he would space out and get distracted by whatever was on his mind.

"Inoue, are you paying attention to the lesson?"

Startled by the teachers' question, the auburn haired girl looked up to see the teacher and the rest of the class focused on her. "Y-yes sensei" A knowing looked crossed their instructor's face. "Is that so? Alright then, what major war happened during the early Meiji era?"

The class returned their attention to the girl by the window, awaiting her answer. Biting her bottom lip, Orihime tried to think back to the previous lesson, but nothing came up. She looked to the teacher "Was it the blue space men?" she scratched the back of her head and smiled as the room remained quiet.

The class erupted in laughter at her foolish answer. Orihime smiled brighter as her classmates continued with their laughter. She opened her eyes and locked gazes with Ichigo, who had a small smile on his face showing his amusement. The young girl felt her cheeks redden and quickly looked away.

"As I thought, try and pay attention from now on Inoue."

"Yes sensei..."

The Students chuckled to themselves as they looked at her and the rest of the class period went on without to much interruption.

When the final bell sounded, signaling the end of the day the students gathered their things to leave. Orihime was a bit slower than the rest which resulted in Tatsuki waiting outside the classroom for her. She turned to face Tatsuki, but found she was no longer waiting in the doorway, she didnt she her friend anywhere in the halls. Panicking slightly Orihime went to search for the girl outside of the school. She checked the school gym, her training dojo, and even the bakery shop they would sometimes go to after school. Out of breath the girl stopped, something wasn't right and it was obviously so. All while Orihime searched for her best friend, she noticed that the streets were completely empty. Not a single being could be found and the young healer began to worry at seeing no one around her.

Biting her lip, Orihime reached out to search for her friends auras and felt nothing in return. She felt very alone at this moment, something that wasn't settling well with her. Closing her eyes she tried harder to search out her friends spiritual powers and hopefully find some answers as to what was going on, but she was cut from her task when she felt a sharp pain in her head. Grabbing both sides with her hands and bunching up her brows, Orihime tensed as she looked behind to find the source of her discomfort. There before her stood nothing, but an empty space along the sidewalk which puzzled her even further than she already was.

"I-is there any one there?" Calling out to the empty space in front of her and getting no answer back, not knowing what else to do she started to walk in the direction of her apartment where she would feel somewhat safe and hopefully find some answers. She didnt get far before she felt the same pain in her head and almost lost her balance. Reaching a hand out to her side to grab something that would help steady herself, she came in contact with nothing and unfortunately that meant that she had nothing to catch herself on as she fell to her knees. Panting slightly she placed a hand to her head as she tried to collect herself._ 'What is happening to me?'_

There was a sudden spike of pressure around her.

A sudden spike of _spiritual_ pressure.

One she didn't recognize.

Snapping her head up and looking around the empty area for the source of the mysterious spiritual pressure and not finding it, she began to stand, but found that she couldn't. There was a strong force pressing down on her body preventing her from doing so. This pressure was heavy, crushing almost as Orihime gasped for air, She could tell that it was a foul being that was producing this awful feeling inside of her. It made her want to hide and disappear. The feeling was crawling all over her body making the young healer feel sick to her stomach. There was a sharp spike in the pressure which made the girl snap her head in its direction.

Her eyes landed on a figure in the distance that was the cause of this feeling inside of her. It was in the air high off of the ground and moving at a slow pace towards her. It had its eyes closed and a look of concentration on it's face. As the being got closer to her, Orihime saw that it was the figure of a woman. She had a slim frame that was covered in a partial armor across her chest and lower body, leaving her abdomen bare. Her clothing was a pale blue and black, she had a sword tied to her hip and two daggers on the other hip. Her eyes traveled up to the woman's face which was very pale compared to her short auburn hair that was short on one side and extremely long on the other, almost down to her waist. It was then that she chose to open her eyes. They were a piercing sky blue and they landed on Orihime.

Getting to her feet quickly, Orihime faced the woman who looked at her with curious eyes. The woman's lips curved upwards into a wide smile that reminded Orihime of Gin Ichimaru's eerie grin.

"Orihime, are you ready to go?"

Confused Orihime cocked her head to the side. "Excuse me, but what do you mean?"

"It's time for you to leave this place."

"I don-"

She was interrupted as the ground underneath her began to shake and in the far distance she could see a darkness coming towards her and the woman in front of her didn't seem fazed. The buildinsg around them started to fade as did the road before them.

"What's going on?"

"Orihime?"

Whipping her head around she searched for the voice she would recognize anywhere as Tatsuki. She didn't see her friend anywhere by her.

"Orihime!"

"Tatsuki-chan! Where are you?" Taking a few steps forward, Orihime searched her surroundings again frantically looking for her friend.

"We cannot waste anymore time here Orihime."

Totally forgetting the woman in her presence and the approaching darkness, she looked at the woman as she reached a hand out towards her as the darkness began to close in around them.

"Orihime!"

"Please hurry Orihime!"

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"What the hell?"

"Orihime what's going on?"

"Are you alright Inoue?"

Orihime panted slightly as she opened her eyes and realized she had shut them tightly in fear. She looked around her to see she was back in the classroom and it looked like it was lunch time. A good majority of the people currently occupying the room were staring at her strangely and whispering.

"Orihime did you hear me?"

Looking up she found Tatsuki with a worried expression on her face along with most of her other friends. Tears gathered in her eyes as she quickly got out of her seat and hugged her friend tightly.

"Oh Tatsuki-chan! I couldn't find you! I was so worried!"

"What are you talking about Orihime? I've been here the whole time...Orihime what's going on?"

Stepping away from her friend she looked at the faces of her friends as they watched her and waited for her answer.

"I-I-I...guess It was dream hahaha..." smiling to her friends, letting them know that she was alright. "Um I need to go to the bathroom!" Quickly she left the classroom and made her way to the restroom before anyone could stop her.

"Well that was weird"

"Shut up Renji! Something's obviously bothering her!"

"How was I supposed to know that stupid? W-wait Rukia don't come near me!" She had a menacing glare on her face as she closed in on him.

"Will you two settle down, Kuchiki-san has a point something must be bothering her"

"I'm gonna go check on her and make sure she's ok."

The group of friends watched as Tatsuki leave the room and follow after Orihime. The sound of a chair scratching the floor caught everyone's attention.

"What's she in such a hurry for?"

The group turned towards the newcomer that turned out to be Ichigo with a slight scowl on his face as he took his seat next to Chad who nodded to him in greeting.

"Alright class lets pick up where we left off!" The teacher clapped her hands together to get the classes attention and resume class. The students moved back to their seats, while Ichigo swore under his breath "Damn I just got here..."

"Oi Kurosaki! Quit complaining so we can start"

"How the hell did you hear that?"

Ochi-sensei smirked at him "Take a seat Kurosaki before-" She quickly reached behind her to the chalkboard and grabbed an eraser and threw it very hard at Ichigo's face. "I make you sit down!"

"What was that for you old hag!"

"That was for coming to my class late thinking I wouldn't notice. Ha I'm not stupid!" Turning her back to the class she began to right on the board.

"Could've fooled me.." Ichigo grumbled.

"What was that?"

"N-nothing"

She 'hmph'd and continued her writing on the board as the students copied down the notes for Thursdays test. When she had finished with that, she turned to face the classroom.

"Alright now- Where are Arisawa and Inoue?"

* * *

Tatsuki hurried down the hallway after her friend, worry clouding her mind as she wondered what could have upset her so much. She pushed open the door to the girls restroom where Orihime was standing in front of the mirror staring at her own reflection. Tatsuki slowly approached her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Orihime what's going on?" She asked with concern in her voice.

The girl in front of her turned and smiled brightly "I'm fine Tatsuki-chan, really I am I just had a weird dream. It's probably because I ate a lot of wasabi last night with my rice and miso soup before I went to bed. I'm fine now." She told her as she tried to reassure her friend, but Tatsuki had known Orihime for years and she knew better. Her face was slightly swollen and her eyes were red, she'd probably been crying in the bathroom before she had come in.

"What was the dream about?"

Orihime looked surprised not expecting her to ask about her dream. For a split second Tatsuki saw fear cross her face before she answered her "Uhh I think the robots had teamed up with the wasabi monters to capture everyone and take one the planet of the space people..hehe... I don't really remember all that much, sorry Tatsuki-chan"

Tatsuki gave her a wary glance, she knew her friend was lying, but if she didnt want to talk about it now she wouldnt push her about something that had her so upset, she would bring it up later.

"Alright Orihime, if you say so. Lets get back to class"

"Ok Tatsuki-Chan!"

The girls made their way back to the classroom and entered to see Ichigo and Ochi-sensei in each others faces arguing.

"Sit down dobe!-" She took her ruller in her hand and whacked Ichigo on the top of his head "Arisawa, Inoue! Where have you been?"

"Sorry sensei we were in the bathroom" Tatsuki answered as the two took their seats.

"Alright, take your notes out and copy what's on the board."

"How is that fair!" Ichigo yelled as he rubbed his head and scowled at the teacher " They come in late and you don't do anything to them, but me you hit with and eraser and a book!"

Ochi-sensei continued her way to the front of the class, laughing slightly "Oh that's simply, I like them better" she replied as the classroom erupted in laughter.

Clapping her hands to gain their attention once again Ochi-sensei spoke "Ok who can tell me the two main forces who were at war during this time.

No one raised their hands.

"Jeez you kids are hopeless..."

* * *

**Alright, first chapter out of the way. Click the review button please and let me know what it is you think of my story**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter 2! I hope you like it, I'm still deciding on where I want this story to go exactly. In most Ichihime fics I've read Ichigo's really brash and a little rough with our Hime. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just think I want my Ichigo to be a little more calm towards Orihime. I do know what I want my OC's to come in and do in the story and I cant wait to introduce them. Well here you are!**

**I own nothing, it all belongs to the wonderful Tite Kubo**

The last bell sounded in the school and the students quickly left the building, all in a hurry to start their afternoon plans. The classroom was empty when Tatsuki had come to get Orihime. She pushed the door open and found her dear friend still sitting in her seat with her head on the desk. The girl was fast asleep as Tatsuki approached with a small smile, she reached a hand out to shake the girl awake. "Orihime it's time to leave."

Her friend had a startled look on her face and turned towards the girl before her. "Sorry I must've dozed off. I'll be down in a minute Tatsuki-chan" Orihime gave the girl a bright smile as she watched her leave the room. When the door closed the smile left her face and she glanced out of the window next to her desk. It was beginning to rain lightly and she watched as the droplets hit and fell down the window. She became engrossed in the rainfall and didn't notice the door to the classroom opening or the sound of foot steps coming towards her. She looked down at the paper with her drawings from earlier and looked at the new addition to the page. The woman who she had seen in her dream had confused her greatly, why would she dream of someone she had never met before. The thing that scared her the most was that it felt so real, like it had actually happened. The strange woman, the darkness surrounding them, the voice coming from somewhere unknown and the pain that had come from her head. Orihime couldn't think of what would cause this and-

"What are you still doing here Inoue?"

His voice surprised her, and she went to grabbed her things, along with the paper she had drawn on and tried put them in her bag, but in her haste she had ripped the paper in half and knocked the rest of the papers that were laying on her to the floor. As she bent down to pick them up his hand came into view as he also bent down to help her.

"I didn't mean to scare you, are you alright?" He gathered the papers he had collected and handed them to her as the two stood up.

"I'm fine, just a little jumpy. Thank you Kurosaki-kun! I have to go meet Tatsuki-chan now." Orihime turned away from him and made her way to the door. When she reached the doorway his voice caught her. "There isn't anything we should know about is there? There seemed to be something that was bothering you earlier, can tell me Inoue" She could hear the concern in his voice and knew that he wasnt the only one wondering about her especially whe he had said 'we' which meant their group of friends had also noticed and it only made her feel worse than she already did. She hated to worry the people closest to her. First she had Tatsuki-chan worried about her and now Kurosaki-kun. At the thought of him worried about her a light blush spread across her cheeks and she was thankful that her back was to him.

"Really It's nothing to worry about Kurosaki-kun I promise everything is alright, goodbye now." She waved her hand as she made her way to the front of the school to meet up with her friend.

Ichigo watched as she left the room sighing to himself, he glanced down at her desk and noticed a ripped piece of paper she must have forgotten in her hurry to leave. He grabbed it and looked over the half page of drawings that Inoue had created. It was decorated with what looked like little bean paste monsters and robots attacking towns people. Ichigo chuckled lowly at her imagination and was going to put the paper back on her desk when an image stood out to him. It was a woman or so he thought, he wasnt able to make out certain parts of the picture, but from what he could tell it was a woman heavily armed and a very odd-looking. It gave him a weird vibe and he frowned slightly, this picture was off to the side of her other drawings on the half sheet of paper. He glanced out of the window and saw the artist of the highly imaginative drawings joining her friend at the school gate and the two walking home. He placed the paper in his pocket deciding to bring it up sometime in the near future. He walked over to his desk to grab his combat pass he had forgotten earlier and made his way out of the classroom.

* * *

The sun broke through the clouds and began to lighten the area after a fresh rainfall. Birds shook their feathers to free them of the water that had caught them on their flight and began to chirp happily in the trees. The air warmed up as the suns rays touched the gloomy area Orihime was in as she made her way to the grocery store. The corners of her lips curved upwards as she felt the sun hit her skin and brighten her way and the song of the birds only made her smile widen._ 'I love it right after a fresh rain. This weather is so welcoming._' The young woman took her time to her destination and enjoying the things around her as they came to life due to spike in the weather.

Humming a little tune in her head she walked into the store and waved a greeting to the store owner who smiled warmly at her. She walked over to the dairy aisle to get some milk and some little ingredients for her dinner tonight. She checked her basket and made sure she had everything thing that she needed and made her way to the counter.

"Inoue-san how have you been?" The older woman asked as he rang out the products.

"Oh I'm fine Reiko-san, just picking up a few things for dinner."

"This is a lot, are you having company over? A boyfriend maybe?" The store clerk wiggled her eyebrows up and down at Orihime which led to a deep blush to spread across her face.

"O-Of course not Reiko-san! It's just me and I am very hungry today for some odd reason so I got a few extra things."

"I kid! I kid! Poor girl, I didn't mean to fluster you, but someone as beautiful as you should have a boyfriend by now my dear." The older woman gave her a motherly smile as she handed Orihime her bags.

Orihime laughed nervously as she grabbed the bags that she had with both hands and answered the woman behind the counter "Thank you, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon." She smiled at the woman as she headed out of the door and made her way back to her apartment.

"You poor girl, no one should be accustomed to being alone." The clerk shook her head with a sad expression on her face as she watched the girl walk down the street.

* * *

Ichigo tuned out his surroundings as he put his headphones on and made his way to Uruhaha's shop to train. He'd been slacking lately and he'd paid for it in his last battle against a group of hollow, and just the thought had a scowl forming on his face.

_He'd been caught off guard when he underestimated his enemy, a very large Hollow flanked by several smaller ones. Chad and Uryuu quickly set off after the smaller group, which left the main one to Ichigo. Thinking it would be a short battle he ran swiftly towards the large creature and raised his sword to strike it down, he cut the edge of its protruding horn from its mask. It howled in pain and jumped back from Ichigo who raced after it preparing to strike again when he felt a sharp pain coming from his side. Stopping in mid stride he looked at the source of the pain and saw that it had come from the horn he had cut moments ago and was now sticking through his side. The hollow chuckled as Ichigo realized it was the one that had caused his wound. Angered he forcibly removed it and charged at the Hollow swearing to himself for being so careless. He swing this time and cut down the middle of its mask. Watching the large creature disintegrate he looked at his companions to see that they had fared better than he had. Turning his gaze to the wound at his side his brow furrowed slightly 'Damn...'_

Turning at the corner he continued down the street until he felt a chill pass down his spine. He stopped walking and took his head phones off because he knew what would follow.

There was a loud rip sound in the air followed by a high-pitched screech.

The young man smirked to himself as he reached for his combat pass, glad for a distraction from what was going through his head. He then felt multiple hollows come into the world of the living as he pressed the badge to his chest and watched his body hit the ground, he picked it up and set it behind a few bushes nearby for safety. Glancing up into the sky he watched as the small group of monsters descended to the ground coming towards him, Gripping the hilt of his zanpakuto and readying himself for attack. He stopped as he felt an unfamiliar spiritual pressure enter this world and looked for the source of it, but he was stopped as one of the hollows closed in on him and swiped towards his torso. He deflected the attack and jumped a good distance away to prepare himself.

Ichigo counted only three hollows who wouldn't be too difficult to defeat, though he wouldn't make the same mistake twice and get reckless. He set off to the one closet to him, a snake-like creature that wasn't very big, but Ichigo could tell that it was quick when it slithered away from his attack. Following it he tried again with a side strike to its large spiky masked and was able to land a sizable crack to it before it screeched in pain and went to swipe its large claws at him. He dodge the attack and the tail of one of the other hollows come towards him. Swiftly placing his weapon in front of him to take the brunt of the attack, but it wasn't needed as a great surge of blue light enveloped it and Ichigo heard the scream come from its mouth signaling its death.

He turned away from what was once a hollow to see Uryuu with his bow drawn ready to release another arrow.

"I had that one Ishida, I didn't need your help." The young shinigami leaped to his next opponent and to quickly disposed of it.

"It didn't seem like it Kurosaki. To me it looked like you needed saving."

"Tch, not from the likes of you asshole." Ichigo used more force than necessary as he came down to land the final blow on the last hollow and cut right through it. He turned as it faded away and walked to where he had left his body, as Ishida put his bow away.

Ichigo returned to his body and faced Ishida. "What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be at sewing class or something like that?"

Uryuu clenched his fist at his side when the orange haired boy in front of him to a jab at his hobby and answered him "We got out early today, not that it concerns you. I felt the hollow and came to dispose of them and you should be glad I did."

He gave Ishida a hard look "No one asked you to come here!-"

"What the hell are you two arguing about not?"

They followed the sound on their new arrival and saw Rukia hovering before them with an angry look on her face. She jumped to the ground and glared at two fighters. "What happened here? I sensed there were hollow on this area, did you defeat them?" She looked between Ichigo and Uryuu awaited an answer.

"Yes Kuchiki-san we got rid of the creatures before you arrived. This idiot was getting mad because I saved him from an injury."

"I can handle myself! I-"

"Will you shut up!" Rukia yelled at Ichigo who turned away and clenched his fist in anger.

"On my way here I felt a strange presence coming from somewhere near here. Did you see anything Ichigo?"

The orange haired boy glanced at his friend and thought back to the feeling he had gotten earlier while fighting. Sighing inwardly "I did feel something,but I got interrupted because of a hollow attack."

Uryuu asked "Was it a hollow, or...something else?"

"I felt something as the Garganta opened and didn't recognize it. I'll mention it to Uruhaha when I get there."

"I'll join you I need to speak to Kisuke also" Rukia said goodbye to Uryuu and started to walk in the direction of Uruhaha's shop and Ichigo followed suit.

"Try not to get into anymore trouble so I don't have to save you again." The Quincy fixed his glasses as he watched them walk away.

Ichigo's responded with his middle finger as he and Rukia got further away from the young man.

The two friends walked in silence for a while to their destination. Rukia checked her cell phone frequently in hopes of any information on the mysterious spiritual pressure and Ichigo kept his eyes to the ground thinking of what was the cause for the disturbance earlier. When their short walk ended they stopped in front of the store before entering.

"What's kept you so quit this whole time? And what made you so angry earlier with Uryuu?" She placed her phone inside her clothing and looked up at him.

"I'm just getting a really weird feeling, I can't place it and it's really annoying!" Scowling he looked up to the sky as if searching for something."I don't know, but it isn't a good feeling."

* * *

Orihime walked slowly to her apartment, many things fluttering around in her mind. She was looking forward to making dinner tonight and her favorite TV show was also coming on today so she was very excited.

Her home came into view as she rounded the corner and she switched the bags in her left hand to her right to get her keys out when she froze on the spot. A slow chill crept up her spine causing her to drop the bags in her hand to the ground. It couldn't be. This feeling she was experiencing, there's no way it could be real. Looking to the sky she searched for the cause of the sensation that was overcoming her. She heard the rip of a Garganta in the distance and the feeling became stronger. Fear racked her body, Orihime hastily grabbed her groceries and made for her door in almost a sprint. Fumbling with the keys and panting heavily, the frightened girl rushed into her home and slammed the door behind her. Once safely inside she slid down her door and pulled her knees to her body and shut her eyes tightly.

Maybe her dream wasn't really a dream. Maybe it meant something more and the idea of what it could mean terrified her...

...

...

...

**Ok second chapter and I'm really happy with it! I was kind of nervous to write Ichigo's part, but I think I did alright. I've made Ichigo a little lax in his fighting because of the lack of hollow attacks, and its for a reason, he'll become stronger with some new powers I'll throw in there. Let me know what you think by clicking the review button please :)**


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